THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING

By Micheline Maynard

Published: July 27, 2004

FOR once, an airline may have hit on a promotional idea that its competitors will not find easy to copy. Starting today, Song, the low-fare brand created last year by Delta Air Lines, will be trying to build traffic and brand awareness by giving away, of all things, guitars.

Apple Mini iPod music players and free downloads of songs from iTunes will also be offered. But the Gibson Les Paul Junior electric guitars engraved with the Song logo are the eye-catchers in an offbeat promotion for an airline whose future is in a whole lot more doubt than than that of rock n' roll.

Though Song's financially troubled parent is only weeks away from completing a revitalization plan, it is not clear where Song will fit in it, according to its president, John Selvaggio. ''I don't think that Song is destined for oblivion,'' Mr. Selvaggio said in a telephone interview yesterday from his office in Atlanta. But he declined to lay odds on its survival. ''Nothing like that's even been decided,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Song is introducing its music-themed promotion today and hoping that Delta will keep it in the air.

Mr. Selvaggio said he wanted a promotion that would set Song apart from rivals like Southwest Airlines, which kicked off a fierce battle for low-fare customers earlier this month with a nationwide seat sale, and JetBlue, which cut fares on one million fall tickets, with some New York-to-Florida seats going for as little as $49 each way.

''Anybody can cut your fare, but not everybody can give you a free guitar,'' said Mr. Selvaggio. Song, which is also matching its rivals' prices, will advertise the giveaways in national and local TV and radio commercials to start, with print advertisements to follow beginning Sunday.

Mr. Selvaggio said Song expected passengers to snap up thousands of guitars and iPod players, and millions of downloads.

But Al Ries, chairman of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta marketing firm, was not impressed. After being beaten by rivals in offering a fall fare deal, Mr. Ries said, Song's promotion has a whiff of desperation about it, as the carrier tries to strengthen its image by linking it with iconic brands like Gibson and Apple.

''There's no question that Song is in trouble,'' he said.

Song has reached out before to seek marketing luster by association, including hiring the fashion designer Kate Spade to create uniforms for its crews and selling treats on board its flights from Dylan's Candy Bar, a trendy Manhattan sweet shop. It has tried to stand out in an industry crowded with variations on red, white and blue color schemes by painting its planes lime green.

But its once-aggressive expansion plans in New York, where JetBlue is based, have been held up for months as Delta completes a top-to-bottom review of all its operations, ordered by Gerald A. Grinstein after he became chief executive in January.

Tomorrow, Mr. Grinstein is scheduled to meet with airline employees to discuss the outlines of his plans to remake the airline, whose operating costs are now the highest among the nation's biggest carriers. Delta, which has also hired advisers on debt restructuring and bankruptcy in recent months, plans to present the results of its comprehensive review to its board in late August.

Last week, Delta reported a loss of nearly $2 billion for the second quarter, its worst in more than 25 years. The bad news broke a logjam in its talks with the Air Line Pilots Association over new cost-cutting measures. The pilots' union responded by offering to accept a 23 percent cut in pay along with work-rule changes and other concessions, a package it valued at $705 million a year.

Though the airline said the new offer provided a basis for formal negotiations, Mr. Grinstein said the pilots would have to ''dig deeper'' to make the airline competitive with leaner rivals, including both the major airlines and the low-fare carriers that Song was created specifically to combat.

Whatever form it takes, the overhaul will probably make Delta look much more like Song, Mr. Selvaggio said. ''It will definitely have a lot of the options that Song offered.''

To qualify for the music giveaway, passengers must purchase tickets on Song's Web site, flysong.com, between Aug. 1 and 12, for travel between Sept. 7 and Oct. 6. In a twist, prizes will be awarded depending on how many people travel together and the number of round-trip tickets they buy.

An individual traveling alone would receive 100 music downloads for a single round-trip. To get a guitar, two people would have to purchase round-trip tickets and travel together, and then decide between them who got the prize. Mr. Selvaggio said he imagined a set of parents flying together and then giving the guitar to a child for Christmas.

Three people buying round-trip tickets and flying together would qualify for one iPod, a light green model with the Song logo etched on the front, which they would then presumably share somehow.

Mr. Selvaggio said he saw the willingness of Gibson and Apple to team up with Song on the promotion as a vote of confidence in the brand. ''Frankly, they would not participate with us if they thought we were laggards,'' he said.

Photo: Consumers who book seats on Song's Web site in August will be eligible to win a variety of prizes.